“He improved slightly overnight but was still not eating, he was lethargic and not acting very Siamese. They are generally very lively and playful cats.

“We decided to sedate him and took X-rays where we could see something with metal was present in the stomach area.

“We had a couple of options, we could've gone in with the endoscope, but because there was metal, we worried it might have been something sharp like wire and so didn't want to pull it out through the throat.

The pieces of metal from the hair bobbles show up in Olaf’s stomach area on x-rays taken by vet Bruce Waddell of Willows Veterinary Hospital

“We thought surgery would be the best option so opened up the abdomen and stomach and there was what seemed like an almost continuous production of hair bobbles.”

Bruce checked Olaf’s intestines to make sure none had moved through his body, adding: “I suspect the bobbles have been there for quite some time, one of them had a metal clasp which made it easy to spot a foreign body on the X-ray.

“Olaf was kept in for a few days for fluids, antibiotics and pain relief but was stressed at being in the hospital and so we thought he would cope better being at home.

Morgan, 20, who lives with mum Lesley, and sisters Olivia and Ella, in Northwich added: “Olaf was very poorly. At one point we thought we were going to lose him but now he’s back to his annoying playful self.

“He’s put weight back on now, you wouldn't know there was ever anything wrong.

“He’s not like a normal cat, he’s more like a miniature dog but more high maintenance, but he’s our world and the thought of losing him made us absolutely devastated, it was a really scary time.

“It would be good to raise awareness that this kind of thing can happen.

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